Manchester United have booked their place in the semi-finals of the EFL Cup with a fantastic 4-1 win over West Ham.

Anthony Martial and Zlatan Ibrahimovic both scored twice while Henrikh Mkhitaryan sparked on his recall to the starting line-up and was Man of the Match at Old Trafford.

Wayne Rooney put in one of his best performances of the season but picked up a fifth yellow card meaning he is suspended for Sunday's clash at Everton. Paul Pogba and Marouane Fellaini will both return after sitting out the EFL Cup tie with suspensions of their own.

Bastian Schweinsteiger made a long awaited return to the United side when he came off the bench late on to a rapturous reception.

Hull City are United's opponents in the two-legged semi-final to be played in January, by which time the transfer window will have opened. Jose Mourinho keeps being linked with defenders with Eric Bailly due to depart for the Africa Cup of Nations and Daley Blind seemingly out of favour.

We'll keep you up-to-date on all the breaking news from around Old Trafford.

Key Events

Mourinho's tribute to Caio Junior

He was Chapecoense’s coach.

“I’m really happy with the players and obviously I cannot forget in spite of the result and performance the tragedy with colleagues, with a coach called Caio Junior that played in Portugal for many many years. It’s something we’re going to miss in Portugal because we knew him so well and he left so many friends in our country.”

19:24Ciaran Kelly

Lovely

Only three weeks to go..

19:07Ciaran Kelly

Times they are a changin'

United can return to the top again in spite of their recent struggles, according to Reds legend Ryan Giggs.

The Reds have struggled since Sir Alex Ferguson’s retirement in 2013 after a 27-year spell at the club where he won 38 trophies.

But Giggs, who had a 29-year association with the club, feels it won’t be long before the Reds start winning things again.

There was always going to be a change, because of Sir Alex’s power, his influence in that successful period, and it was just how you combated that, he told Sport.

Now obviously David Moyes came in, Louis van Gaal came in, and now Mourinho’s come in – so I’m not surprised because the influence Sir Alex had on the team was so strong.

When you go from champions to like, seventh and then fourth and fifth, it’s not what United fans are used to. But it’s about getting back to the top. Whether that’s this year or next year, I’m sure they’ll do it. Obviously the longer it goes, the more pressure is on the team.

18:42Ciaran Kelly

Unreal

What a talent

18:09Ciaran Kelly

Interest

United target Virgil van Dijk would be available for £50 million, according to Southampton legend Matt Le Tissier.

The Dutch defender is attracting plenty of interest after some impressive performances for the Saints.

And even though he only signed a new six-year deal in May, Le Tissier feels van Dijk could leave if an extraordinary offer was made.-

It would be fantastic [if the club refused any bids], he told TalkSport.

Virgil only signed a new long-term contract recently so the club are in a strong position.

But if somebody comes in with a £50m or £60m bid, can you really stand in the way of the player? That’s the thing you have to consider.

Sometimes it almost looks like the game is too easy for him.

He looks like a man playing in an Under-14s game, that’s what it looks like at times. He’s just immense. He’s been fantastic for us.

The Swede has been joined by Chelsea’s Diego Costa and Pedro, Man City’s Sergio Aguero, Sunderland’s Jordan Pickford and West Brom’s Matt Phillips on the list.

The 36-year-old returned to form in November, bagging five goals in all competitions.

17:41Ciaran Kelly

Bad decision

United winger Memphis Depay was advised against moving to the Reds by international team-mate Eljero Elia.

Memphis was one of Europe’s hottest properties when he joined United for £25 million in the summer of 2015.

And, having struggled to make an impact at Old Trafford, Elia feels he would have been better served at Spurs.

I thought Memphis first had to make a stop, first choose a club like Tottenham Hotspur, he told Helden Magazine.

United are so big, the pressure is so high.

He had to immediately make an impact at such a club, while everyone would watch him.

Memphis accepted my opinion, but said, ‘I’ll try to give my all and I’m confident that I can succeed there.

17:03Ciaran Kelly

Zlatan reacts to Basti sub

United star Zlatan Ibrahimovic was “super happy” after Bastian Schweinsteiger made his first appearance in eight months against West Ham.

The 32-year-old was banished to the reserves when Jose Mourinho took over as United boss but has since come back into the fold.

And, after a rousing reception from the Old Trafford faithful when he came on in the 4-1 win, Ibrahimovic could not hide his delight for his team-mate.

I’m happy for him, he told Sky Sports. I’m happy because the situation for him hasn’t been easy.

He has been working hard, he’s kept patient and mentally it’s not easy - especially when you have had a career just like his.

I have nothing but respect for him and super happy that he’s back.

And also the person is fantastic, so happy to see him back on the field and you could see the crowd was happy also.

16:51Ciaran Kelly

Tragedy

A minute’s silence will be held at Goodison Park on Sunday in memory of the Chapecoense crash victims ahead of United’s game vs Everton.

Seventy-one people, including most of the players from Brazilian side Chapecoense, were killed when their plane crashed on Tuesday.

The thoughts and prayers of Everton remain with the families of those who lost their lives and were severely injured in the accident, a statement from Everton read.

The aircraft was transporting the Chapecoense football team from Brazil for the first leg of their two-game Copa Sudamericana final against Atletico Nacional of Medellin,

In solidarity with our football family all over the world, we will mourn the passing of the victims of this tragedy with a period of silence at Goodison Park on Sunday.

16:06Ciaran Kelly

Praise for Paul

United star Paul Pogba is even inspiring those on the opposing side if Arsenal youngster Josh Da Silva’s comments are anything to go by.

Da Silva has revealed that there’s only so much he can learn from team-mate Santi Cazorla because of their different heights.

And Da Silva feels he can learn just as much from Pogba and City midfielder Yaya Toure.

I try to watch and learn from Santi Cazorla, but a lot of what he is able to do is because of his low centre of gravity, he told Arsenal’s pre-match programme.

I’m almost six ft two, so I take what I can from him, but also other tall strong central midfielders like Yaya Toure and Paul Pogba. I use my power and strength but also technique to try to make opportunities for the team and arrive in the box to score goals too.

16:02KEY EVENT

Club v country row brewing

United and England may be set for a club v country row after Gareth Southgate hinted Marcus Rashford could feature in the under-21 European Championships in the summer.

Rashford, who had limited game time under Roy Hodgson at Euro 2016, bagged a hat-trick on his debut for the under-21s against Norway in September.

And Southgate feels the chance to play in an international tournament would be good for the 19-year-old’s development.

As we go forward, the summer is a good opportunity for a group of players who have worked incredibly hard to get to those finals to build on what they did in Toulon last summer, he said.

Marcus would benefit from tournament football, but I’m conscious of his age and workload over the season. So we will assess it and work out what is best for him.

I’m excited by the current senior squad and the players coming through our development teams, we have had a reasonable amount of success and I pretty much know all of them.

That is great position to be in as an organisation, a great opportunity to join up everything we have done at St George’s Park, and we haven’t been able to do that before because we never had a national home or a head coach who came through the system.

14:43Ciaran Kelly

Heinz all the way

Juventus star Gonzalo Higuain has revealed some inspirational advice former United great Ruud van Nistelrooy gave him.

Van Nistelrooy? He told me something during a period in which I didn’t score, he told Corriere della Sera. And it’s true.

You try, but it doesn’t come out. And when it comes out, it all does at once. It’s like ketchup. It’s a beautiful anecdote.

14:39Ciaran Kelly

Fired up

Everton are looking to “put things right” when United visit Goodison Park on Sunday, according to full-back Seamus Coleman.

Ronald Koeman’s side failed to win a game in November and currently lie a point behind United in seventh place.

And Coleman feels the club’s record at home gives them hope of leapfrogging the Reds into sixth.

The way things are going at the minute, we just want to get out there and put things right, he told evertontv. We have to do this kind of interview – it is protocol – but at the end of the day, you can say all of the right things but you have to go out and do it on the pitch.

It is going to be a tough game against Manchester United, but we have to go out and perform and do so for 90 minutes – not for 45.

We can take confidence from the home record. The home form has been good. If we beat United on Sunday, we go above them in the league.

We have to look forward, do the right things and when we come off that pitch we have to be able to look in the mirror. There have been some games recently where we have been nowhere near good enough. We may have played well in spells but we need to do it over the 90 minutes.

14:36Ciaran Kelly

Fate

Cristiano Ronaldo could have ended up at Barcelona instead of United in 2003, according to the Catalan giants’ former president Joan Laporta.

After being elected as the club’s president, Laporta brought in Rafael Marquez, Ricardo Quaresma and Ronaldinho.

And having spoken to superagent Jorge Mendes about signing Deco, Laporta has claimed he was also offer Ronaldo.

We had signed Ronaldinho, [Rafael] Marquez and [Ricardo] Quaresma, he told Marca.

We were in a process of reconstruction throughout the whole club. [Ronaldo] was at Sporting at the time, before Manchester United, and we were speaking with his agent who wanted to sell us Deco.

We said that we couldn’t because we weren’t able to [spend that much at the time], so he told us he had another really good kid.

It was Ronaldo. He had a deal with United for €19 million, but we were offered him for €17m.

Zlatan reacts to Adrian horror tackle

The 36-year-old was floored by the tackle after the Spaniard came flying out of his goal to try and close Ibrahimovic down as he poked home United’s opener after just two minutes.

Ibrahimovic was left in so much pain that he could not even celebrate his goal with his United team-mates after he was caught on his left knee by Adrian’s studs.

And despite the incident not been spotted by referee Mike Jones, Ibrahimovic was just relieved that he did not suffer an injury.

Yes, when I tried to score a goal, I tried to avoid the duel with goalkeeper, he told MUTV.

And then he did what he did. No worries. I didn’t get injured. That was most important. But I still kept playing because I don’t give up.

The important thing is to play good and feel good and give the guys the confidence so they feel comfortable when they’re playing. I’m working hard and the team is working hard. We try to help each other and I try to help in the best way I can.

I’m happy so far with my performance. I should have a couple more goals but the goals will come. I’m not worried because the goals are the easiest problem.

13:26Ciaran Kelly

Fletcher opens up about Rashford example

Former United starlet Ashley Fletcher hopes to emulate Reds prodigy Marcus Rashford by becoming a household name in the Premier League.

The 21-year-old left United in the summer in search of regular football at West Ham and scored against his former club in the Hammers’ 4-1 defeat in the EFL Cup.

Fletcher hopes he can now kick on and follow Rashford’s example.

He’s a quality player, doing it on the top stage for United and England, he said. I wish him all the best.

He’s going to be a very important player for United and England in the years to come. But I don’t have any regrets with my situation. I’m really happy at West Ham.

Hopefully [I can achieve what he has] - who knows? - I can maybe show myself like that one day too.

13:09Ciaran Kelly

Stat

Super Swede

13:08Ciaran Kelly

Elated

Amazing what a difference three days make..

13:05Ciaran Kelly

Delighted

Pity he went off..

13:03KEY EVENT

Mourinho reacts to EFL Cup draw

United boss Jose Mourinho believes his side cannot underestimate Hull City when the teams meet in the EFL Cup semi-finals in January.

The Reds booked their place in the last four of the competition with an impressive 4-1 win over West Ham at Old Trafford.

It’s two legs, it’s not one leg, so the home factor does not mean the same, Mourinho told MUTV.

Also in the league cup, the fact that the goal away only counts in case you go to extra time if you finish even.

So it becomes more relaxed and it reduces the pressure of one knockout game, but the second game is at Hull.

I’m sure that they enjoyed playing at Wembley in last season’s final when they were promoted in the play-off.

And I am sure that they will have a super motivation to go there, but we want it as well, so we are going to try.

12:59Ciaran Kelly

Ibra reacts to West Ham win

United star Zlatan Ibrahimovic has hailed his side’s “amazing” performance against West Ham last night.

The Reds booked their place in the EFL Cup semi-finals with a 4-1 win at Old Trafford - just three days after a frustrating 1-1 draw with the Hammers.

And Ibrahimovic feels teamwork was the key to such a fantastic performance.

[On Sunday] they had that goal after a couple of minutes and we were chasing them but today was different because, when you’re one goal up, you get more spaces, he told MUTV.

Today’s situation was totally different. We played the game exactly how we wanted.

I think, collectively, we were amazing, because we helped each other. We sacrificed for each other and we made it easy for each other.

12:52Ciaran Kelly

Januzaj opens up about fitness

United loanee Adnan Januzaj is targeting a return to Sunderland’s starting line-up this weekend after his recent ankle injury.

The 21-year-old scored for the Black Cats’ under-23s against Spurs earlier this week after a six-week lay-off.

And, having come on as a late substitute against Liverpool at the weekend, Januzaj is targeting a starting berth against Leicester City on Saturday.

I started for the Under-23s earlier this week which was good to help my fitness, he told safc.com.

It’s good to be playing games again after being out and it will help me find my levels.

It was a good goal and it helped the team and hopefully it will lead to me scoring first-team goals as my ambition is to score in the Premier League, so hopefully I can get my chance and take it this weekend.

It was good to play but I felt like I was getting into my rhythm at Sunderland so [the injury] did come at a bad time, but I’m getting back now and I’ll be on top of my game very soon.

12:49Ciaran Kelly

Deserved

United stars David De Gea, Paul Pogba and Zlatan Ibrahimovic are among 55 nominees for the FIFA team of the year.

Skipper Wayne Rooney has missed out on the shortlist for the first time after an indifferent 12 months for club and country.

The shortlist is put together by FifPro’s members, who vote for one goalkeeper, four defenders, three midfielders and three forwards.

The final team will be announced at the Ballon d’Or ceremony in Zurich on January 9.

12:45Ciaran Kelly

Referee named

Referee Michael Oliver has been confirmed as the man in the middle for United’s clash with Everton on Sunday.

The Toffees have lost just one of their last eight matches that Oliver has taken charge of.

Good luck, Jose.

12:42Ciaran Kelly

Stat

United have not lost in any of the eight games Michael Carrick has started this season.

Also, the 35-year-old has played in six of the seven games where the Reds have scored three goals or more.

Presence.

12:40Ciaran Kelly

Martial attracting interest

United forward Anthony Martial is attracting the interest of French giants PSG, according to reports.

The 20-year-old was one of the contenders for man of the match in the 4-1 win over West Ham but has struggled for form this season.

And, having started his career at Monaco, Martial has been linked with a move back to Ligue 1.

It is well known PSG are very keen if the club does consider selling, a United source told the Sun.

He has been dropped recently against Feyenoord and West Ham and has generally struggled for form.

12:36KEY EVENT

England boost for Rooney

United captain Wayne Rooney will remain England’s skipper, new Three Lions boss Gareth Southgate has confirmed.

England’s all-time leading goals scorer has been under scrutiny of late after struggling for form and being pictured worse for wear.

And while he could not guarantee his starting place, Southgate has assured Rooney he will retain the captaincy.

Wayne is England captain, he said.

I think I said that at the beginning of the interim period but what’s also clear is I’ve only selected him to start in two of the four matches we’ve had.

Obviously it’s not the case that Wayne expects to play every game. It’s important for me to develop more leaders in that group.

If we’re going to be successful we need to develop leadership, develop resilience and that’s one of the key areas.

Wayne has played an important part for England up to this point and I’m sure he can do that in the future but we also have to develop others.

12:32Ciaran Kelly

Homecoming

Former United favourite Mike Phelan admits facing his old club in the EFL Cup semi-final is a “special draw”.

Hull City were paired with the Reds after a penalty shootout win over Newcastle United on Tuesday.

It’s the first time the Tigers have reached the last four of the competition and Phelan can’t wait to return to Old Trafford.

We were always going to land a big team, but it’s a great draw and we’ll be excited for those games when they come around next month, he told hullcity.com

It’s a special draw. We’ve managed to get to the semi-final of this competition and this Club has never achieved that before, so that is a step in the right direction.

It’s something the players can be proud of and now we have to face one of the big boys in Manchester United.

For me personally, it’s also something special because I spent most of my career at Old Trafford as a player and as a coach. Because we have a league fixture against them early next year as well, we’ll be going there twice in a short space of time.

However, all of that might as well be a million miles away because we have a lot of important fixtures before we get to the first leg.

12:27KEY EVENT

Mourinho opens up about West Ham win

United boss Jose Mourinho has admitted that he’s never had a “beautiful team” like his current side after the Reds’ 4-1 win over West Ham.

The Old Trafford faithful were treated to one of United’s best performances of the season on Wednesday night, when a double from both Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Anthony Martial sealed United’s place in the EFL Cup semi-finals.

Mourinho now hopes his side had perform to that level on a more consistent basis after four consecutive home draws in the league.

I’ve never had a team with so much possession, I’ve never had a team with so much creation, I’ve never had a team who create so many chances,” he told MUTV. But, also, I’ve never had a team with so many draws. I want this beautiful team to win more matches and, for that, they need to score goals like they did today.

That’s how we have played [all season]. Every manager has his ideas and also the players can help you - or not help you - to make a certain style of play. This is what we proposed ourselves at Manchester United.

One of the things I proposed to myself was to come to such a club like Manchester United who play the kind of football that people want, because it’s Manchester United’s tradition, so I’m really happy with that.

We have very good players in these [attacking] positions, so when the team produces from behind and builds up well, these players are very creative. But, of course we need to score goals.